Fire destroys two office blocks of Global Upline

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INTENSE: The blaze could be seen kilometres away.

Image 1 – Photo source from See Hua Daily News

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KUCHING: Two wooden office blocks at the compound of property developer Global Upline Sdn Bhd at Jalan Lapangan Terbang went up in smoke late yesterday afternoon.

No injuries were reported as the incident occurred after office hours and all staff had already vacated the buildings and left the premises.

The fire, which sent thick clouds of smoke billowing into the air and was visible for kilometres away, was believed to have broken out at the front portion of the office block facing the main road before rapidly spreading to a second block adjacent to it.

Fire and Rescue Department district chief Tiong Ling Hii said a total of 37 Bomba personnel from three stations were involved in putting out the fire and they were assisted by seven Malaysia Airports Bhd firemen and a further five personnel from the TUDM base.

“We received a distress call at 5.22pm and arrived at the scene at 5.39pm to discover more than 80 per cent of the two buildings engulfed in flames,” he said, adding that the heavy traffic flow at the time prevented firemen from reaching the scene earlier.

Tiong said the absence of hydrants within the compound meant that firemen had to initially utilise water from the fire engines to combat the blaze before a hydrant was located at the opposite end of the road.

Meanwhile, Global Upline deputy managing director Datuk Michael Ting said it was fortunate the incident occurred at a time when none of the 10 staff were around.

Image 9 – Photo source from See Hua Daily News

According to him, the two razed structures were ‘minimal function’ offices and contained only computers and air-conditioning units.

He also said the buildings were not covered by insurance, but that the company will look to rebuild them as soon as possible.

The damage could have been greater had workers not shifted a number of heavy machinery and other vehicles parked near the burning structures to a safe distance.

The fire also attracted a huge crowd of curious onlookers and caused a road congestion which resulted in policemen being deployed to control the flow of traffic.

Losses in the blaze could not be ascertained yet and the cause is under investigation.